September 1st still lies in the distant future, but what better way to get through the summer months than to find out more about BYU’s foes for the 2007 season? I have asked fans of each of the opponents to give an insight into what to expect for each team. I will do my best to get one team each week, and if my calculations are correct, by the time I have posted Utah’s breakdown, Fall practice will be only 2 short weeks away.

A thank you to AZCATFAN for this week’s 2 part installment. We start off with:

Offense:

I think by now, almost everybody knows that Arizona is changing its offense from last year. Gone is the entire Offensive Coaching staff with the exception of Dana Dimel who continues to coach the tight ends. The offense returns 9 starters with Syndric Steptoe and Chris Henry departing from last year’s team.
Sonny Dykes was brought in to change an offense that was at or near the bottom in just about every offensive category for the 2006 season.
Most fans have assumed that it will be a spin-off of TT but, media reports and comments from coaches say that it will be a cross between what TT and BYU’s offense runs. If Dykes had free reign then you can bet that we would throw the ball 70 times a game. Stoops being a defensive minded coach – does not want his defense out on the field all day so you can expect Arizona to run the ball and chew clock when necessary.

In the 2 Spring scrimmages

Arizona threw the ball 125 times completing 84 for a total of 737 yards passing. So that you have something to compare this to – in 12 games last year, UA threw for 2,024 total yards. That averages out to 168.7 passing yards per game. Granted, it was 2 scrimmages but, UA averaged 368 yards throwing in the 2 scrimmages.
Rushing the ball, as you can imagine was not much better. In 12 games last year UA rushed the ball for 1458 yards (excluding sack yardage) on 379 attempts for a 2.7 average rush and 84.2 rushing yards per game.. In the 2 scrimmages – UA rushed the ball 45 times for 314 yards. That comes out to almost 7 yards a carry and an average of 157 total rushing yards. Granted – these are scrimmages but, as of right now it is the only thing we have to compare it to.

QB’s

The strength, the heart and soul of the team lies in JR Quarterback Willie Tuitama. I’m certainly not an expert on QB’s so I will refer to people who are. Lamont Lovett, a former AZ running back and current analyst for UA radio broadcasts had this to say in an article that he wrote for Scout.com:
“First of all Willie Tuitama is absolutely the QB for this team and he is tailor made for this system. Unlike most of the general public, I have had the opportunity to watch Tuitama practice extensively. The first reason that Tuitama is perfect for this new system is that he is a well-schooled QB. Tuitama is fundamentally sound, from years of working with a great QB coach, Mike Canales. Tuitama has a very efficient and quick release with very little wasted motion. Tuitama understands footwork and is rarely in a bad position when he throws the ball. Also, Tuitama has great arm strength and effortlessly make all of the throws. Finally, he is game tested and is tough. That’s right, I said tough. This guy will not back down from a challenge and has already proven that he will play when he is hurt.” The entire article can be found here.

Please note that when he refers to Mike Canales he praises him as a QB Coach not as an OC.

Weaknesses: One comes to mind right away and that is that we are breaking in a new offense. Obviously, that couldn’t be helped and I don’t know of anybody who is complaining. I will once again refer to what Lamont Lovett wrote: “The area Tuitama continues to work on is passing the ball with more touch in certain situations. Those situations are when there is a defender between the QB and the WR. Tuitama must be able to use touch to drop the ball over the top of defenders, to the receiver. He has done a really nice job of this in practice situations and continues to get plenty of work in this area.”
Some say that Tui is injury prone where I say that he had 1 severe concussion that led to him miss time in several games last year. As BYU fans know all to well – this offense is designed to protect the QB with quick reads and quick throws. It is not like the guy has numerous nagging injuries that keep him out – he got hit on an illegal helmet to helmet it vs. LSU. The DE was flagged but, it pretty much ruined Tui’s and UA year. In the NFL the LSU player would’ve been fined and suspended. In college it’s a 15 yard penalty. Tui has been cleared to play by the experts at the Univ. of Pittsburgh who specialize in concussions and the affect that they have on athletes both in the short term and long term.
Key player(s) besides Tui is, Tyler Lyon a redshirt freshman who was ranked as a top 25 QB out of Hart High School in CA. Last year UA had a walk on as its back up so the upgrade is huge in comparison to last year. Backing up Lyon is Senior Kris Heavner who was a former starter under John Wackovic.

Running Backs:

Strengths have to be in the variety of running backs that we have. Chris Jennings is an elusive runner with the best hands of the guys returning from LY. In the 2 scrimmages, Jennings rushed the ball 14 times for 103 yards and over 7 yards per carry. Xavier Smith is a local kid who is the most explosive of the group and maybe the toughest. X had a tough Spring as his mother was murdered a few days before the final scrimmage of Spring. After X you have Terry Longbons and 2 incoming freshman.
Of the incoming frosh it has been said that Nicholas Grigsby has the best shot at seeing playing time. Grigsby is a self described Reggie Bush type of player. We will see whether that is fact or fiction.

Weaknesses are going to be the same for every group as the entire offense has to learn a new system. The RB’s have been quoted as loving the offense but, it is too early to tell how this group will do. Of the entire offense – I would put the RB group as the biggest possible weakness. Chris Henry who was a freak of an athlete was just coming into his own before he decided to turn pro. Jennings had a career day vs, Stephen F. Austin and not much after that. X played sparingly and Longbons not at all. The running back in this system does not have to be great but, they do have to be productive. We will see.

Tight End:

It seems like every preseason for as long as I can remember, the Arizona coaching staff has talked about how the tight end will be an important part of the offense and every year he catches 8 to 12 balls total. I think this year may be the exception to the rule. It’s too early to tell if this will be a strength or a weakness. In years past it has been a weakness. This year, the UA has one of the top rated TE’S (top 5 in everybody’s rankings) out of HS coming in. Rob Gronkowski is 6’6” and 250 pounds. He will battle with AJ Simmons (6’3” 255) a redshirt freshman from last year. Travis Bell and Brandyn McCall are the upper classmen but, by all accounts the job is between Simmons and Gronkowski. This is an unknown that could be a difference maker in the game. It will be very interesting to see how Dykes uses the tight end in this game. This is definitely a wild card and we will see how it plays.

Offensive line:

I may be alone on this but; most fans view this as the weak spot for the offense where I see it as a strength. When Stoops came on board, his first task was to shore up the O-line and bring in depth. He brought in Daniel Borg, Eben Britton, Blake Kerley, and Adam Grant, in 2005 and Jovon Hayes, James Tretheway, Colin Baxter, Cody Anderson, Cory Elmore and Conan Amituanai for 2006. Borg, Britten, and Kerley played extensively last year as RS freshman. In my opinion they will only get better. Peter Graniello a Senior and Joe Longacre a junior will most likely round out the starting 5. Borg was the 17th best at his position of HS and Britton was 38th. Blake Kerley is the center and is the key to the o-line and one of the reasons why I think it will be a strength and not a weakness. The center position is key for any line especially a young line and, a line that is learning a new offense. The new offense is the same offense that Kerley ran in HS and he has been a huge plus to the offense as he is very familiar with the wide splits and calling out blocking assignments. I have also heard that many people think that the line is undersized when in fact it averages over 300 pounds. The other strength to this unit is the quality depth. They are young but, I think they will be very good and a key to this game and the 2007 season.

Wide Receivers:

I think this will be a big key to the game. Can BYU cover AZ’s receivers when they go 4 wide? When AZ scrimmaged this spring they lined up Mike Thomas 5’8 speedster, Anthony Johnson 6’2 possession receiver, BJ Dennard 5’11 and maybe the best athlete on the team, and Terrell Reese 6’4 a do everything type receiver. Backing them up is a group of talented` yet young receivers. I will also add this quote about AZ’s new receivers coach and what he brings to the table. This is again from the article written by Lamont Lovett: “ Coach Darryl Wyatt, the new WR coach is doing an amazing job of developing the Arizona Wide Receiver corp. He is that great coach that seems to have that “Midas Touch” when it comes to developing Wide Receivers. “
“When Wyatt coached at Oklahoma, almost all of the players under his tutelage ended up in an NFL camp. Leading the way were players like Mark Clayton (1st Round Baltimore), Mark Bradley (2nd Round Chicago), Travis Wilson (3rd Round Cleveland), and Brandon Jones (3rd Round Tennessee). This was more than just good recruiting. Coach Wyatt demands results from his players. He pays close attention to the minutest details when coaching his players. I observed him taking his players through an exhausting practice that involved lots of advanced footwork drills, cutting, and route running. He is an expert at teaching technique, and he emphasizes it on every single play. He is always hounding his receivers about attacking every ball. He is always showing each receiver what he could have done better on each play. He works his receivers like crazy on blocking down field. The results are obvious. Fewer balls are being dropped, and players like B.J. Dennard, and Bobby McCoy are starting to emerge all of a sudden.“ Again, this article can be found here. Our WR’s versus your secondary could very well decide the game.

My 3 Cents: BYU and AU fans, feel free to post comments/questions. I will moderate them to make sure they are constructive. Tomorrow I will be posting the second part: Defense and 5 reasons AU will beat BYU.